Children, Drop Your Chains and Sing
by whoshallJudgeAngels
Summary: Times when we feel like our hearts could sink and scrape the bottom of the ocean, the Lord is there to hold us up with his wisdom and merciful salvation.


**A.N. Words of Jesus Christ are shown in italics. All scripture taken from the New King James version.**

JOYFUL NOISE: the Psalms

**"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer." (19:14) **This verse seems like a pretty good summary of the book of Psalms. All it is saying is: "God, please let both my heart and my mind look pure to You; You are my strength and my Savior." Now, we are sinful, and God is not, so how can we be pure to Him? We cannot. The blood of Jesus Christ alone is what can save us, what can make us pure, and we don't always want to accept that... but I will be talking about that later.

The book of Psalms isn't all that different from a CD of contemporary Christain hits. The Psalms are basically lyric sheets that the ancient Hebrews used to worship the Lord. Worship was the main topic, but it wasn't the only one. Alot of the songs were about regret and anger; others were joyful in thanksgiving. Some Psalms might even seem a bit... well, _raw_ to us, because that is how honest the writer(s) were. They communed with God in prayer and praise without hiding behind a front, without trying to disguise their sins. **"Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. They speak idly everyone with his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak." (12:1-2)** Which reminds me... King Edward VI of England once said a very similar thing: "So frail is our nature; so vile is our flesh; so sinful is our heart; so corrupt are our affections; so wicked are all our thoughts... we can neither... do anything that is praiseworthy in Thy sight." He had a good point there, and so did David in the twelfth Psalm. Both of these quotations emphasize man's sinful nature as being far inferior to the glory of God... which should serve as a humbling reference point throughout our lives.

So, yeah. We know all this jazz about the sadder Psalms that talk about the trechary of humankind. But alot of the Psalms focus on other things: praise of the Lord. Or prayers of deliverance from enemies. In Psalm 13, trust in the Lord's salvation is acknowledged and praised, and at the same time, despair is clearly voiced: **"How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?... But I have trusted Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing of the LORD, because He has dealt bountifully with me." (13:1, 5-6)** Others recognize God as the righteous Judge He is: **"He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people: 'Gather my saints together to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.'" (50:4-5) **That sounds pretty good, right?** "But to the wicked God says: 'What right have you to decalre My statutes, or take My covenant in your mouth, seeing you hate instruction and cast My words behind you?... you give your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother...'" (50:16-20)**

The idea of God as a righteous Judge is also carried further... logically. **"The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightning the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever..." (19:7-9) **Not only is God Himself a perfect Being, but so is His law; His Word.

**"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want." (23:1) **That should sound familiar to most of us... after all, it _is_ the opening to what is most likely the most well-known Psalm there is. Of course, it's talking about something important, don't you think? Let's go a little further: not only is God righteous, but He loves us, too. He looks after us. He is our shepherd; a shepherd never abandons his flock.

God never abandons us.

And that is a reason to praise Him.

**Please review!  
xoxo whoshallJudgeAngels**


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